However, it is still early days. Monti, in office since November,
has suffered his first major defeat in the Italian parliament.

Reuters
reports that Monti's government lost a vote (264 to 211) in
Italy's chamber of deputies to pass a legal amendment that would
allow civilians to bring civil suits against magistrates for
trial errors,
Reuters reports.

The change would mean that judges were personally responsible for
legal errors, and many magistrates had protested the amendment.

The amendment was put forward by Umberto Bossi's Northern League
and supported by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's PDL
party. Monti's government had opposed the amendment, and justice
minister Paola Severin has vowed to reverse the decision.